Senior Belarus officials have been blamed by the UN for the hoax bomb claim that led to an emergency landing for a Ryanair flight and the arrest of a dissident journalist.
The plane was on its way from Athens to Vilnius in May, 2021, when Belarus controllers ordered it to land in Minsk, citing a bomb threat.
Once it was on the ground, Belarus journalist Roman Protasevich was detained along with his then-girlfriend.
The UN's aviation agency on Tuesday, for the first time, blamed senior Belarus officials for the hoax that forced the plane to land.
The International Civil Aviation Organization, which had previously said it did not know who was behind the hoax, condemned Minsk for "committing an act of unlawful interference" which contravened aviation rules.
"The ICAO Council acknowledged that the bomb threat against (the flight) ... was deliberately false and endangered its safety, and furthermore that the threat was communicated to the flight crew upon the instructions of senior government officials of Belarus," it said in a statement, citing new information.
Russia's representative, it added, strongly objected to the conclusion.
Western nations have imposed sanctions against Minsk for supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Minsk has previously said it acted legally and in accordance with all international norms, and accused the West of using the episode to try to undermine President Alexander Lukashenko.
Protasevich, former editor of a prominent opposition news outlet, renounced his political activism and was released from jail into house arrest. The opposition in Belarus believes his recantation was coerced.
The Belarusian finance ministry said, on Tuesday, Western sanctions that have limited Minsk's ability to deal in foreign currencies are pushing the country into default despite Minsk being able to service its debts.
Belarus did not pay the coupon on its 2027 Eurobond due on June 29.
Following the expiry of a 14-day grace period, global rating agency Fitch on Monday downgraded Belarus' long-term foreign currency rating to "restricted default" from "C".
Last week, rating agency S&P Global kept Belarus' foreign currency rating at "CC/C" but said it could lower it to "selective default" if the bond payments are not made in their original currency by the end of the grace period.
Minsk had said earlier that it was ready to pay the external obligations in the local currency, the Belarusian rouble.
